Recent Tasting Notes

The dry leaf smells like honeydew rind. Distinctly melon but not very juicy or as sweet as the meat of the fruit. Brewed, the tea smells more like very ripe cantaloupe.

Taste wise, it’s very melon-y on the front and transitions to a sweet nectar taste at the end. It’s very sweet. I mean very. Melon and nectar. There’s not a lot of depth to the flavor as both tastes are pretty high and sweet. Honestly, I think it may be a little too much for me. At the same time though, as this cools, it’s less super-melon and more… buttered melon. Melted butter instead of creamy solid butter.

I can get behind the buttered melon thing, but the initial hot taste of melon and nectar is just too sweet for me. Maybe if paired with a darker tasting white tea, this would be more my thing as the melon flavor is very nice. But ultimately, too overpoweringly sweet for me.

Agreed on the ‘ridiculously authentic’! And I sadly have never had Midori (somewhere along the way I have totally lost my alcohol tolerance and one glass can get me buzzed so I pretty much avoid it) but I can see how that crazy sweetness would go in something melon-y alcoholic.

My alcohol tolerance doesn’t exist. It’s flown the coop. It doesn’t even take a full beer to get me buzzed, so the fact that I can handle midori sours is saying something. They are awesome. You should try one. This tea isn’t nearly as sweet as midori actually is, but it is pretty sweet.

I’m still trying to decide whether I want to order a tin of this. Hrmmmmmm…

I’m actually a huge fan of the amaretto sour myself, although midori sours I can handle in small doses. But I rarely drink, pretty much, so I have 0 tolerance. 1/3 of my way through a vodka and cranberry and I’m already giggling and acting like an idiot.

I don’t like licorice. At all. It’s evil. Oddly enough, I don’t anticipate liking this tea. But I’m a glutton for punishment so we’ll give it a quick go.

The dry leaves smell horrid – exactly like licorice. The juice smells like someone dropped a licorice candy in my tea to dissolve. Those bastards. It’s not as strong as the dry leaf but still smells like licorice so it’s icky.

But oh my gosh. The taste is… good! What the what what? There’s a faint sweetness and a little hint of licorice but not actually licorice. Not icky licorice. A sweetness that lightly melds with the (silver needle-tasting?) white tea giving it an almost dark nectar-y, somewhat floral taste.

I’m really really shocked at how delicious this is. I don’t know if this needs to go on the ‘to buy’ list but it has potential. Sadly, I only had enough leaf for one cup but I’ll see how the resteep goes. Because this was really quite yummy!

ETA: The second steep was more licorice tasting but not in a bad way. It was more identifiable but without the cloying… stickiness that I associate with licorice. Really surprising how good this one was.

I was really terrified of this one too. I loathe licorice! I think the trick here is that it’s not really licorice in the tea, but anise, which has a slightly different flavor. And somehow, it WORKS. And tastes really good. It’s bizarre on many levels!

I can’t stand licorice, and it’s in so many tea blends out there! Anise is more tolerable by a smidge. Star anise is very nice, though, so I really think it’s a matter of proportion and sweetness. I find licorice utterly cloying and will avoid teas containing it like the plague.

Anything even remotely licorice is evil in my book… except this tea. This was good. I don’t think I’ll be getting a full tin of it, but I am wondering what size their sampler is… I’m guessing it’s larger than the one or two cup envelopes in the 31 tea sampler set but not 100% sure. Does anyone know? Because I’d like to have like… 5 cups of this on hand.

Boo. I need a few more cups to figure out if I think this is good because it is licorice and not evil or if it really is super-good. Or both. (At the moment, I’m leaning towards both, but I need confirmation!)

My stomach has been unhappy-making (probably due to the stuff I’m eating to try and gain weight), so I needed some mint to help it ease up.

I almost smacked myself in the forehead after I poured the water into this because I could have tried takgoti’s Moorish Mint. I’m an idiot.

I’ve never had Moroccan Mint, but I have had peppermint tea and gunpowder. The sample is pretty and dark green, with lots of peppermint leaves (complete with static cling), and rolled green tea. All very visually appealing.

The smell… well, it actually smells like exactly what it is. The mint overpowers the smell of the green tea overall (but I’ve never found Chinese greens to be that fragrant anyway), but it has a nice, rounded aroma.

The cup is similar in color to a gunpowder – not green, but a honey color. The smell coming off of it doesn’t have any of the smokiness of the gunpowder, and the mint hits you full force in the face.

I actually really enjoyed the taste of this. It’s uncomplicated, but interesting. Definitely a nice change of pace from the normal peppermint that I tend to drink. The green tea peeks through with a hint of verdant sweetness, but it really isn’t the main player here. The mint is fresh, and it almost, but not quite, drowns out the tea. Its herbal edge is definitely cut by the green tea, which is nice. No astringency… and no smoke, surprisingly.

Preparation

This, along w/ an oolong and Octavia’s Winter Mint was my 1st loose leaf purchase. Now that I actually know something about steeping tea, I can’t wait to try this one again. I’m thinking maybe 30sec steep.

I doubt you’d get much flavor out of this in 30 seconds… peppermint is something that you can keep steeping for 7-8 minutes for optimal flavor, and gunpowder doesn’t really get going until about a minute or so of unfurling.

Preparation

Yeah, this one is a lot lighter than Adagio’s! It’s also a higher grade of gunpowder (Temple of Heaven), so that might be it as well. I actually prefer Adagio’s because I like the strength of the smoke on that. :)

Mmm, this really does smell lovely. Like a rich syrup. I’m not a big Ceylon fan – I tend to find them boring – but this is the exception. It makes me want to eat buttered biscuits with cane syrup drizzled over them. The taste is smooth and this time I’m finding it obviously Ceylon, but the aftertaste is really where it’s at. Sweetness just expands in my mouth after each swallow and I feel like I’ve just had brown sugar. I have to sip this tea slowly just to appreciate the aftertaste. Quite a happy tea for my afternoon break.

Preparation

The leaves are so pretty. Dark and almost velvety looking. And they smell like cocoa? Of course, I just ate some clementines so my hands smell like them and that could be throwing things off.

The tea itself smells like it has been sweetened with honey. It smells light and fruity and sweet. And wow. The taste is… like maple or cane syrup. The end tastes just like raw sugar. This is really sweet and almost rich. I was so surprised that I called the husband in to make him taste. After one sip he gave me a shocked look and grabbed the cup back to have another sip. He said that it tasted like there was cream in it. After another sip, I’d have to agree. The smoothness gives it the feeling that it has been spiked with a little milk.

This is really good. All sorts of sweet, natural tastes combining into one yummy tea. This is probably going on my ‘to order’ list!

Hopefully they offer shipping to your part of the world because it is a way cool sampler. Sure, there are a few misses in there but the fact that it is their entire tea catalog and they have more good teas than bad (so far), it’s definitely a good purchase.

I’m so glad you like Sinharaja. Until this week it was my favorite tea. (Now it is one of my favorite two teas.) It is my comfort tea when the world has obviously conspired to make me unhappy. I bought a half pound bag and keep nervously checking to make sure it isn’t getting close to gone.

They don’t at the moment iirc, but I have a couple of people in mind in the US that I might be able to convince to buy it for me and have me reimburse them via paypal or some such. We’ll see if they trust me enough for that, but it’s worth a try to ask them anyway. :)

I have tea coming out of my ears. Tea tea tea tea tea tea tea. SO MUCHTEA. I literally spent 20 minutes this morning, wringing my hands, pacing the floor like an animal, trying to figure out WHAT exactly I should drink. I’m worried about it going bad, about it getting stale, about it losing flavor. I’m like a woman undone.

Finally, in frustration, I just dunked my hand into the GM sample basket and I pulled this out. There we go! Darjeeling. Okay, fine, I’ll take it, let’s steep this.

So, Darjeeling. I’ve never actually had it. It gets touted regularly as the “champagne of teas” with “muscatel” flavors. Okay, so it’s really good and tastes like wine and grapes. Simple enough.

The leaves on this one are really wiry and long. I wasn’t picking up anything special on the scent. Maybe a bit more fruity than normal? But it pretty much smelled like a basic black. The leaves are really pretty to watch unfurl here; some are quite long.

Finally I had some tea juice in my hands and I was ready to drink. I stuck my nose in the steam of the light infusion (much lighter than I thought it was going to be) and inhaled. Hrm. I feel like I should be one of those snobbish wine connoisseurs and make up stuff. Like, “Oooh, this one smells like freshly tanned leather and pipe tobacco with a hint of animal dung.”

I am probably over-caffeinated right now.

But no, it doesn’t smell like any of those things. In fact, I was just a fairly default black taste. So I was actually pleasantly surprised when I took my first sip of it piping hot. It tasted… different. A bit musky, maybe? Subtle, but deceivingly so, because there seems to be a lot of depth.

I actually liked this a lot better as it cooled a little. Then that infamous “muscatel” flavor came creeping in. I’m not a big drinker of wine (and I like white over red), but this tea had a similar fruity composition. Almost grape-y. There were some basic floral notes, but overall, it was very smooth and sometimes sweet with no astringency. I think I would have preferred it to be a bit more full-bodied. This Darjeeling was actually lighter than I thought it was going to be.

Does it taste like any other black tea I’ve tasted? No. It tastes… like a Darjeeling. I don’t know if this is the best Darjeeling ever, and I don’t have anything to compare it against, but I enjoyed savoring that special fruity component.

A sweet, sugary dessert tea. It lost a bit of flavor on the second infusion, but it still left my mouth watering for more. The carmel and brown sugar tastes are not overwhelming, but certainly hard to miss. I think I’m going to order a cannister of this as soon as I can.

Preparation

The dry leaf makes me sad. Not shiny, not a pretty green and the needles have a few full ones but a lot of broken ones – and this has no indication of being a deeply steamed sencha so we should have longer, full leaves. I wasn’t really expecting anything more, but one can hope, you know? The smell was interesting… faint but sweet but dry and not rich or buttery or vegetal at all. Once put in my preheated Tokoname pot, they did smell better but I’m not going to take that to mean too much because my pot alone smells nice when it’s been heated because it’s been used for sencha so much. The tea does smell stronger than my pot alone, so it’s not a total lost cause, but it’s still not looking good.

The resulting liquid is… yellow. And wet. That’s pretty much it. Very little smell and the taste is hot and… astringent at the end. And that astringency builds quickly to a salty taste that takes up residency at the tip of my tongue and just hangs on. That tastes adds a little thickness to an otherwise very thin bodied tea.

Problem one with this tea: it’s not the type of sencha I like. It’s obviously a lighter steamed sencha based on the clear yellow color and I prefer the richness from a deep steamed sencha. But problem number two: it’s not a good example of a lightly steamed sencha. It’s bland and has very little taste, only bitterness. The leaves are either old or weren’t stored well and that probably doesn’t help the lack of taste.

The only positive I’m going to give this tea is that I did finish my whole cup. But I’m not even going to try a second steep.

Preparation

Yeah, I was figuring that this wouldn’t be the bees knees. Just because GM clearly is not the place for sencha. At least you finished the cup, though! There have been PLENTY of teas that I haven’t finished.

Green tea is a tough one to do for a general vendor it seems. I’d guess because of the freshness factor – you’d have to have a lot of turnover in those teas to make sure your stock is always fresh and a lot of non-specialized vendors just don’t get that. Meh. But they save themselves with most of their yummy flavored teas!

Three minutes seems short, but it says 2 – 3 so I’m gonna give it a shot.

The dry leaves smell lovely. Earthy and smooth and a little sweet. No fish to be found so fingers crossed.

My first thought upon smelling the wet leaf was ‘seaweed’. But not exactly. Kind of like… dirt-covered, boiled wakame. The tea itself smells sweet but there is an undertone of… not quite fish but something oceanic or seafood-ish in it. But the dominant smell hits me as dried sweet hay that has been rained on. This reminds me of the fish pu-erh so I’m nervous.

The taste is better than ROT’s. No sweet smoked fish. There are similarities though. But not in the bad tastes, only in the good. This one does have a weird aftertaste, though. Not weird, just… not expected. There’s actually a little bit of dryness that kicks in within the sweet hay flavor at the tail end of the swallow.

I’m not 100% sold on this one. I definitely like it more than ROT’s but it doesn’t come together quite as happily for me as Samovar’s Maiden’s Ecstasy.

Preparation

I think there are a lot of similar tastes going on with the two teas and that ME just… melds better. For me, at least. I’m looking forward to trying the Palace Pu-erh since that’s supposed to even been better than ME!

I actually think that once the boyfriend gets here I’m going to try some of the terrifying, unknown Dragonhell. That way I can get it out of the way and drink nommy things for the rest of the week/year/ever.

Had a little false start with this one. Went to sip from my cup and apparently I didn’t rinse it out well enough because I could still smell vanilla. So I poured it into a fresh-from-the-dishwasher cup (strawberry teacups from my MIL! YAY!) and we were vanilla-less from then on.

First of, the dry leaf? Lovely. So so pretty. Small but squiggly with love little bits of gold. So cute. And they smell sweet – I’d probably go with Lotus because it reminds me of the smell I got at Chusonji and I know they are big on having lotuses planted around the temple site. Plus, my other options based on the description were honey or sandalwood and neither quite fit.

Once brewed though, the tea smells more like a mild version of one of the husband’s single malts. Spicy but sweet. I’m going to go with sandalwood with a hint of honey on that, but the spice isn’t as incense-y as I typically think of sandalwood. So maybe I should just go with faint single malt with light honey.

Sipping, it is nice. There’s a large flavor that is just ‘tea’ to me but it has notes. There’s a little spice (more pepper than sandalwood to me as I can feel it make a little prickle on the tip of my tongue) but it is sweet, too. Not overwhelmingly so. Just enough to keep this from making me think of chai. There’s a dry, slightly astringent hit right at the end of the swallow that hits the back of my tongue and reminds me of some rougher Darjeelings and it seems to oddly bring the taste full circle from the spicy tickle at the beginning of the sip (and at the tip of my tongue).

I think with the spice and astringency and only hint of sweet, this tea just isn’t for me. But it’s got some good notes and an interesting flavor so I can see people that prefer bolder or spicy teas enjoying this one than I did. It’s surprisingly dark and broody tasting for such a light-colored and light-bodied tea.

I LOVETAKGOTIANDAUGGY. LOVETHEMLOVETHEM. This must be known, to everyone. Sorry if this is coming off as a bit incoherent but takgoti just sent me the hugest box of tea known to man. And I’m all weepy and excited and happy and wonderific.

So, how do you rate a tea when you don’t like the main flavoring agent?

So when I opened the GM sample of this, I immediately smelled melon. Ripe, fresh melon. Mixed in with a sweetness that must’ve been the white tea base. Very pretty, but very…melon. I wasn’t that happy, but I dumped the entire sample into my pot and got it cooking. Or steeping, rather.

The resulting tea was a beautiful color. A darker white tea than most, like a very light copper. And the fragrance must be mouth-watering for a melon-lover, but for me… I just wrinkled my nose.

The first sip was a bit… interesting, to say the least. It’s pretty much straight melon, with a nice white tea base. It tastes like a hybrid version of a cantaloupe and honeydew, but actually comes closer to Midori in taste than either. I can actually stomach Midori in small doses, but yeah. I finished the cup, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. I wouldn’t order it again, but it was extremely high-quality! And tasted just like melon! So if you love melon, I’m sure you’ll love this.

My mom kept sipping it, smiling, and going, “Mmmmmm” over and over again.

I feel like I’ve already tried a ton of Golden Moon teas so far, but my little sample basket from them is still overflowing with goodies! I decided on this one today, mostly because I had just gotten up and this is the first one I saw that was to be made with boiling water. The Zojirushi being on 208, I went ahead and grabbed it. When I am more awake I can worry about what I want to drink. Right now I just need something.

My cup of tea smells lovely. The vanilla is creamy and sweet and almost candy-like. In fact, the smell reminds me of SerendipiTEA’s Colonille and City Harvest Black. Upon dipping though, it fails to fill those (admittedly very large) shoes. The vanilla isn’t overwhelming but is soft, a little sweet and creamy and really delicious. But there is a disconnect between the vanilla flavor and the tea. The two don’t fully merge. There’s vanilla, then there’s tea, then there is a little vanilla aftertaste. I don’t taste vanilla tea so much as vanilla and tea. And I want those tastes squished together.

If I were rating this tea on scent alone, this would get a very high score. It smells awesome. But the taste is a little disappointing when hit with that lovely smell. As it cools, the two tastes seem to blend a bit, but the delightful smell goes away so I prefer it hot. However, now I seem to be getting a bit of a dry, powdery aftertaste feeling in my mouth. Sort of like when a potato hasn’t been fully reheated and you’re left with a little mealy taste that goes back to creamy once you pop it in the microwave another minute.

For me, this tea just doesn’t hit all the right notes. I gave the husband a sip of it hot and his face lit up when he smelled it but he got a bit of a confused look on his face post-sip and stated, “That’s interesting.” So yeah. Great smell but the flavors just don’t match up to the smell. And once the tea and vanilla flavors starts to combine, the tea temp is close to starting to get cold enough that the aftertaste feels heavy and uncomfortable.

I think if I had finished the tea before it got to that funky aftertaste/feel point, I might have given the tea a little higher rating simply because the smell was awesome. But right now when it is time to move that little slider, I just have an odd taste in my mouth that leaves me kind of grumpy so it’s hard to remember the happy smell and odd (but not as bad as the aftertaste) taste of the hot tea.

I’m finding that I really love the way teas with golden tips look. The black and gold just look so amazing and beautiful together… it really makes the experience all the more worthwhile.

Anyway, when I opened this little packet by GM this morning, I was hit with a lot of different and complex yummy notes. Earthy, fruity, dark, complex. Even some sweetness thrown in there for good measure.

The wiry leaves are very pretty; the whole thing just looks high-quality. So I steeped up a teaspoon of this in the IngenuiTEA. The leaves didn’t expand all that much, but they did unfurl a bit, and the resulting cup was a deep copper. Not as dark as some Irish Breakfasts I’ve seen, but still fairly dark.

On first sip I was in happyland. There’s actually a lot of complexity in this cup. It’s fairly smooth at the forefront of the sip, with lots of notes of fruit, and a slight subtle sweetness. As you swallow, a subtle maltiness presents itself, with just a bit of astringency. There’s a lot of the earthy flavors that are present in most blacks. I have no idea what prunes taste like, so I couldn’t find that in my tea. But I could see the cherry, and even perhaps some honey as an aftertaste. There is a mild sweet component to this tea, which I liked. It’s a fairly complex and subtle black by itself, so I don’t think this is one IB that you’d want to put milk into immediately.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more of a malty “kick” that I associate strongly with a good Irish Breakfast, but the interesting flavors that kept peeking out of this cup more than made up for that lack. It tastes like it’s high quality, and I think it could function on two levels: as a daily drinker, and as a fun, tasting journey as you try to nail all of those components that are highlighted in each sip.

Pu-erh. The dreaded tea with the reputation that would make you want to run for the hills. Fishy tastes and smells. Bird feathers/droppings, nail clippings. Earth and dirt.

Needless to say, I was terrified to try this one. But I mustered up the courage and cut open that packet from GM. Then I hesitantly, very carefully, took a little sniff. You know what? This doesn’t smell bad at all! I thought to myself. It’s very earthy and rich and deep, with an almost bake-y smell. It’s very difficult to describe. The overall smell is similar to a black tea, but it smelled… aged. In a good way. Like an old, leather-bound book. Friendly, almost.

So I began to feel a bit more confident about the cup that awaited me. The leaves don’t do all that much in the pot, and they’re pretty plain looking, but a bit thicker-looking than most blacks (and they are jet black with some brown intertwined). The cup that this steeps up to be is DARK. A deep, deep amber, that you can only see as transparent if you stick it in direct sunlight. Otherwise, it looks like your spoon as disappeared into the black lagoon.

With lots of trepidation, I look the sip, and I was shocked at how inoffensive this was! Then I took another sip, and I thought, mmmmm. Boy is this tea complex. Infinitely smooth, with no astringency, and ridiculously sippable. Now onto the taste, which is so layered, I’m loving it. There’s a taste of earthiness. But we’re talking about more of a savory earthiness, like you’d get from mushrooms. Not dirt outside your house. There’s a level of smokiness. In fact, it’s the smokiness that I thought lapsang souchong was going to taste like. And then, the aftertaste… it’s earthy and deliciously sweet. I mean, as sweet as a green tea tastes on the aftertaste. I was thoroughly shocked at that flavor coming through. It almost has a thick mouthfeel, but is still so smooth and wonderful. I’m still boggled at that sweet component, because it is downright addictive. It’s savory and amazing. Ricky, the resident pu-erh king, really liked this cup as well.

If you’re really afraid of pu-erh, I suggest trying this one. It has its own unique flavor, but really isn’t that frightening. No fish components, and it’s loose, so you don’t have to worry about picking foreign objects out of the cake! Yay! I’m still marveling at the depth of flavors and wonderful savory elements. And that sweetness! MMMMM.

Second Steep
It’s a bit sweeter this time around, with less nuances and complexity. It’s probably the best second steep I’ve had of any tea, ever, but it still pales in comparison to the glorious first time around. I also find myself tiring of a tea and its flavors after one cup. Maybe multiple steeping and I aren’t made to be friends.

I just read your review of your pu-erh experience, and that sounds AWFUL! I’m so, so sorry that you encountered the fishy pu-erh, because if that had happened to me, I’d have never tried it again. If I had more than another cup of this, I’d definitely send it your way for tasting!

I love a good pu-ehr, from the earthy, damp cave scent to the deep, dark flavor. Bad pu-ehrs are bad, but good ones are fantastic.

And hey, Hyrulehippie — I learned to drink tea gong-fu style with Taiwanese oolongs from the friendly and wonderful Shiuwen Tai at Floating Leaves teahouse in Seattle. Oolongs done in a gaiwan are really fantastic.

So glad your first pu-erh experience was a pleasant one! It’s funny that you said that about multiple steepings – totally makes sense when considered with your need for variety. I’m more of a find it, like it, drink lots of it until while interspersing it with different teas until I find something better gal.

When I opened up the Golden Moon packet, it instantly smelled of gunpowder. That earthy, smokey, Rome-burning smell that I absolutely adore. I believe that Temple of Heaven is a higher grade of gunpowder, and let me tell you, the dry leaf was absolutely beautiful. Tiny little blue-green pearls. Way tinier than Adagio’s, and smooth and silky to the touch. So pretty!

So I dumped a level teaspoon into my IngenuiTEA and watched as the fireworks happen. This one’s pretty bombastic in the pot. It start with little bubbles, and then, within a matter of seconds after the hot water hitting the leaves, they start unfurling and writhing and wriggling like they’re dirty dancing.

In the cup, this one’s a honey hue, with a smell that can only be described as smokey gunpowder. So I lift my mouth to the cup and.. hrm. The smoke on this one is definitely lighter than Adagio’s blend. It actually is more seamlessly “one” with the tea flavors than a simple overlay of flavor. And while I enjoy that aspect of it, I wanted the smoke to come out a bit more assertive.

Then the oddity began. I’m picking up that mineral-like flavor and mouthfeel that I got from Rishi’s Jade Fire! The astringency is leaving my mouth dry, and there’s almost a briny component that I didn’t expect. As the cup cooled down, this element faded into the background (although there was still a high component of astringency), and the delicate smoke flavors became the prime focus. There’s a sweet green aftertaste that is really pleasant, but it’s almost a bit too mild.

In fact, I think overall the cup is too delicate for my tastes, and it falls into this bizarre crack. Gunpowder really isn’t a delicate flavor, so it’s strange to have it come across as a wisp of smoke instead of a cloud. Add to that the mineral/brine/weird taste that came with Rishi’s Jade Fire (which is another rolled tea, by the way, but it doesn’t have the smoke of a gunpowder) and you have me perplexed. It’s like if Adagio’s Gunpowder and Rishi’s Jade Fire decided to have a baby and the genetics got mixed up along the way.

Preparation

So, apparently I wrote something but didn’t submit it. Oops. And now I can’t remember what I said… Something along the lines of yay mixed tea babies! If only they would all be as decent as my Assam/Yunnan + Darjeeling love child from this morning. And maybe all ‘higher’ quality Gunpowders just have that mineral/salty taste because I think that’s what Jade Fire is supposed to be, or something like it.

Light brown in color for a black.
Dry leaf smells quite HONEY.
Wet leaf smells more like the Honey Pear Combo along with a woodsy-type scent.
After removing the steeping loose leaf there is an added floral scent as well.
It’s a nice even taste. I can taste more honey than pear.
It’s semi-refreshing. A nice blend.
I was nibbling on a piece of orange chocolate fudge while sipping and must say it pairs with Chocolate well!! :P
A comfort tea, perhaps!? But then again…aren’t most teas comforting!?

It seems like whenever teaplz and Ricky don’t like a GM tea (or rather don’t love one), I suddenly need to try it. It’s like I want to torture myself with tea. It didn’t work last time with the Lapsang Souchong but I’m thinking it might work this time.

The leaves? Are not happy looking. They are dark olive and brown and dry looking and there seems to be a lot of twiggyness going on. I’m betting on a strike out here. The tea smells… dusty. And I’m not even talking about the dry leaves. I’m talking about the liquid. You know, the wet stuff. And when wet stuff smells dusty? That’s not cool.

Okay, it’s not as bad as I feared. I mean, I was expecting the little red icky face, but this isn’t bad. First off, it’s pretty sweet. Not quite a honey sweet but almost like it’s been sweetened with sugar. Even to the point of an almost sugary aftertaste. As it cools a little bit some tartness is coming in on aftertaste. I’m starting to make a little face after I swallow but it’s nothing horrid. But… that’s it. That’s all I get out of this tea.

So yeah, not nasty but not great. Sort of a generic green tea flavor that really isn’t anything other than wet and a bit sweet. I think this would be a good ‘starter’ tea for someone that just wants to drink tea as some sort of medicinal supplement. It’s not offensive and just a bit boring. But for me it’s not really a good representation of what’s available in the world of green teas.

So not quite torture via tea, but not something I’ll ever want to have again. I might do a second steep just because I pretty much always give greens a second steep. But if I do, no guarantee that I’ll drink the whole cup.

Preparation

It is a bit bland. Is it because it’s organic? That’s what I was wondering, cause my Rishi’s China breakfast is a bit bland too (Okay, it definitely has more flavor than this or a Twining’s English Breakfast). I mean it’s good, but it doesn’t live up to the whole Best 2008/2009 World Tea Expo breakfast tea. copies my comment for safety :D

I haven’t tried tons of organic stuff but I have heard they tend to be blander/lower quality than their equal costing non-organic counterparts. The exception (I think) is supposed to be some single estate teas but I can’t remember any of the estates so I might have dreamed that.

BLAND! Yay, so we agree on this! Boring-ish. And very light, for a green. This one was pretty sweet, but it wasn’t a white sweet. It just wasn’t amazing, overall. Good, but not great. Like I said in my review, I don’t think this is one that’ll knock people’s socks off.

Preparation

My first experience with a while tea tasted like cooked asparagus or soybeans. Both of which I like, but only when it is actual asparagus or soybeans, not tea. So yeah, that totally scared me off whites for a while! But I look forward to trying this!

Since I had already bought this after the first time I tried it, I gave the sample in my sample pack to my mom. Tonight we brewed that tea because it is extremely cold again here, and it was the best way to warm up :)

Preparation

I like the flavor of this tea a lot. It does not need sugar. It is fantastic hot and also delicious cold. This is a win-win tea. Today since the ground is covered with a foot and a half of snow, it is a hot tea.

The aroma of the tea is coconut, hands down. The flavor of the tea is coconut, carried by a green tea with a sweet almost minty after taste. It is absolutely wonderful. The first time I tried the tea, I knew I had to buy one of my own, and I did.

As a note: I tend to use a lot more leaves than I should, this is just a force of habit, but I think it makes multiple steeps of the tea better when you have more leaves.